WIDER Working Paper 2018/7 Stock-And-Flow-Consistent

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

WIDER Working Paper 2018/7 Stock-And-Flow-Consistent WIDER Working Paper 2018/7 Stock-and-flow-consistent macroeconomic model for South Africa Konstantin Makrelov,1 Channing Arndt,2 Rob Davies,3 and Laurence Harris4 January 2018 Abstract: We develop a stock-and-flow-consistent model for South Africa with four financial instruments and detailed balance sheets for the household, government, financial, non- financial, and foreign sectors and the Reserve Bank. Though micro-founded, the model departs significantly from current dynamic stochastic general equilibrium models as it assumes bounded rationality and no Ricardian equivalence. T he stock and flow consistency makes it better suited to studying balance sheet dynamics and the real sector/financial sector interaction. In the model, cyclical flow changes affect the long-term real and financial behaviour of institutions through their impact on the respective institutional assets and liabilities stocks. Keywords: stock and flow, macroeconomic, model, financial, computable general equilibrium JEL classification: C68, D53, D58, E44, E47 Acknowledgements: We are grateful for comments from Christopher Adam and Bassam Fattouh and support from the United Nations University World Institute for Development Economic Research. 1 National Treasury, Pretoria, South Africa, and School of Financial and Management Studies, SOAS University of London, London, UK, corresponding author: [email protected]; 2 International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), Washington, DC, USA, and School of Financial and Management Studies, SOAS University of London, London, UK; 3 School of Financial and Management Studies, SOAS University of London, London, UK; 4 School of Financial and Management Studies, SOAS University of London, London, UK. This study has been prepared within the UNU-WIDER project on ‘Southern Africa—Towards Inclusive Economic Development (SA-TIED)’. Copyright © UNU-WIDER 2018 Information and requests: [email protected] ISSN 1798-7237 ISBN 978-92-9256-449-0 https://doi.org/10.35188/UNU-WIDER/2018/449-0 Typescript prepared by Luke Finley. The United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics Research provides economic analysis and policy advice with the aim of promoting sustainable and equitable development. The Institute began operations in 1985 in Helsinki, Finland, as the first research and training centre of the United Nations University. Today it is a unique blend of think tank, research institute, and UN agency—providing a range of services from policy advice to governments as well as freely available original research. The Institute is funded through income from an endowment fund with additional contributions to its work programme from Denmark, Finland, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. Katajanokanlaituri 6 B, 00160 Helsinki, Finland The views expressed in this paper are those of the author(s), and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Institute or the United Nations University, nor the programme/project donors. 1 Introduction This paper presents a financial-real stock-and-flow-consistent model of the South African economy. The model dynamics build on the simple computable general equilibrium (CGE) model developed by Devarajan and Go (1998) and incorporate elements of dynamic stochastic general equilibrium (DSGE) models and stock-and-flow models in the tradition of Backus et al. (1980) and Godley and Lavoie (2012). The model also incorporates elements of the theoretical models developed by Borio and Zhu (2012) and Woodford (2010). In recent decades DSGE models have been widely adopted by central banks, finance ministries, and policy analysts; however, they have been subject to extensive criticism, particularly with respect to financial sector dynamics (see Sims 2006; Caballero 2010; Blanchard 2016).1 In response to these criticisms, there have been significant efforts to incorporate financial dynamics in DSGE models, including the incorporation of financial accelerator mechanisms derived from Bernanke et al. (1999). In these models, a fall in firms’ net worth is accompanied by greater reliance on external financing. The mechanism creates a feedback loop between higher lending premiums, associated with the higher agency costs involved in external finance, and falling net worth. The approach is employed by Fernández- Villaverde (2010), Carrillo and Poilly (2010), and Kollmann et al. (2013) to study the impact of fiscal policy. A second modification introducing finance into DSGE models assumes that lenders can force borrowers to repay their loans only in the presence of some durable asset serving as collateral (Kiyotaki and Moore 1997); Ottonello (2013) and Fornaro (2015) study the impact of sudden stops in capital flows with such a model. In the models of Gertler and Karadi (2011) and Ellison and Tischbirek (2014) the ability of a representative bank to borrow from other financial institutions is limited by its balance sheet. The mechanism aims to capture how unconventional monetary policy interventions can reduce balance sheet constraints and increase lending. A different bank lending constraint is used by Gerali et al. (2010), in which the ability of banks to extend loans is limited by the holding of deposits and a capital requirements ratio imposed by the macro prudential authorities. The inclusion of such financial sector elements in DSGE models creates several problems. The models are linear and thus cannot capture the boom-and-bust dynamics that characterize the financial sector and do not capture heterogeneous and systemic risk, which are important drivers of financial sector dynamics. The inclusion of a financial accelerator mechanism increases the persistence of shocks rather than creating boom-and-bust dynamics (Borio and Zhu 2012; Duca and Muellbauer 2014). Balance sheet dynamics are either not represented at all or considered only for the balance sheet of a representative bank (Gerali et al. (2010) Gertler and Karadi 2011). But, as Calvo et al. (2004), Eggertsson and Krugman (2012), and Borio and Zhu (2012) argue, disaggregated balance sheet dynamics are important for studying 1 Two milestones in the development of DSGE models have contributed to their adoption for policy analysis. The seminal work of Smets and Wouters (2003) was the first to estimate a micro-founded DSGE model using Bayesian estimation and use it to forecast. The model consists of seven variables (GDP, consumption, investment, prices, real wages, employment, and the nominal interest rate) and ten structural shocks (including productivity, labour supply, investment preferences, cost-push, and monetary policy shocks). Christiano et al. (2005) introduced several variations designed to account for aspects of economies that policymakers face: habit formation in consumer preferences; adjustment costs in investment; variable capital utilization; and firms’ requirement for credit as working capital to finance their wage bill. They also showed that an optimisation- based model with nominal and real rigidities can account successfully for the effects of a monetary policy shock. 1 the impacts of sudden stops, fiscal policy, and general risk behaviour of agents in the economy. To address some of these criticisms, we develop a model that is stock-and-flow-consistent.2 This implies that we have several financial instruments, rates of return, and institutional balance sheets. We model equities, bonds, loans, and cash and deposits as financial instruments; their returns; and the balance sheets of the Central Bank, the household sector, the financial sector, government, the non-financial sector, and the foreign sector. This is a significantly richer representation than the financial representation of institutions and financial instruments in DSGE models. The stock and flow consistency implies that there are strict budget constraints. Changes to the balance sheet of one institution must be matched by changes to the balance sheets of other institutions. These changes reflect that some institutions save more than they invest in physical capital and thus increase their net financial assets. At the same time, those institutions that record higher investment in physical capital than their savings see an increase in their net financial liabilities. The changes to the balance sheets also reflect changes to the prices of assets and liabilities. What is a particularly striking difference between stock-and-flow-consistent models and other models is that cyclical flow changes affect the long-term real and financial behaviour of institutions through their impact on the respective institutional assets and liabilities stocks (Backus et al. 1980). Recent analyses using stock-and-flow-consistent models include Barwell and Burrows’ (2014) study of the evolution of the UK economy in the years leading up to the financial crisis of 2008, in which balance sheet linkages enable financial fragilities to be identified. In their stock-and-flow-consistent model, Caiani et al. (2014) analyse the monetary dynamics that emerge from a Schumpeterian structural change in the economy driven by innovation. Burgess et al. (2016) develop a stock-and-flow-consistent model for the United Kingdom and use it to study the impact of house price changes, shocks to the risk-weighted capital ratio, government consumption shocks, and sudden-stop shocks. They also highlight some of the problems associated with stock-and-flow-consistent models as compared with DSGE models. These problems include model equations which are not based on the optimization problem of individual
Recommended publications
  • ECONOMICS 15.04.2020 Class No
    ECONOMICS 15.04.2020 Class No. 2: Unit 1 (National Income and related aggregates) Objective: After the class/ content you will become familiar with Difference between Stock and flow , Circular flow of income (two sector model); Difference between Stock and flow : Stock Flow Quantity that is measured at a particular point of time Quantity that is measured at a period of time Static in nature. It is dynamic in nature No time dimension Time dimension Ex Capital, foreign debts, wealth, loan, inventories, Ex National Income, Expenditure, savings, opening stock , money supply depreciation, interest, exports, imports, change in money supply, borrowing, profit, rent Factors of production: Factors of production are the inputs needed for the creation of a good or service. The factors of production include land, labor, entrepreneurship, and capital. Factor Income (Factor Payment/Factor cost) Income generated by factor of production is called factor Income (or Factor Payment) that is Rent, Interest, profit and wages and salaries. Sectors in an economy : The Income generated normally flows in different sectors mentioned below: (i) Two sector Economy (Household and Firm) (ii) Three Sector Economy (Household, Firm and government) (iii) Four Sector Economy (Household, Firm, Government and abroad) Not in CBSE Syllabus Circular flow of income (in two sector Economy ): Real flow (Product/ Physical flow) Money Flow (Nominal Flow) Also called a circular flow of income in factor Also called a circular flow of income in money market market It refers to the flow of factor services from It refers to the flow of factor income (or payments) household sector to producing sector (Firm) and from producing sector (Firm) to household sector flow of goods and services from producing sector and flow of consumption expenditure from (Firm) to household sector.
    [Show full text]
  • Mapping the Stock and Flow Structure of Systems Assigned: 16 September 2003; Due: 23 September 2003 This Is an Individual Assignment
    System Dynamics Group Sloan School of Management Massachusetts Institute of Technology Introduction to System Dynamics, 15.871 System Dynamics for Business Policy, 15.874 Professor John Sterman Professor Brad Morrison Assignment 2 Mapping the Stock and Flow Structure of Systems Assigned: 16 September 2003; Due: 23 September 2003 This is an individual assignment. This assignment will give you practice with the structure and dynamics of stocks and flows. Stocks and flows are the building blocks from which every more complex system is composed. The ability to identify, map, and understand the dynamics of the networks of stocks and flows in a system is essential to understanding the processes of interest in any modeling effort. A. Identifying Stock and Flow Variables The distinction between stocks and flows is crucial for understanding the source of dynamics. In physical systems it is usually obvious which variables are stocks and which flows. In human and social systems, often characterized by intangible, “soft” variables, identification is more difficult. � A1. 2 points total. For each of the following variables, state whether it is a stock or a flow, and give units of measure for each. Name Type Units Example: Inventory of beer Stock Cases Example: Beer order rate Flow Cases/week _______________ Prepared by John Sterman, Feb 87; last revision Sept. 2003 � denotes a question for which you must hand in an answer, a model, or a plot. denotes a tip to help you build the model or answer the question. 2 Name Type Units a. Company Revenue b. Customer service calls on hold at your firm’s call center c.
    [Show full text]
  • I. National Income and Product Accounts
    Macroeconomic Definitions -- Dr. Tom McGahagan -- Spring 2005 I. NATIONAL INCOME AND PRODUCT ACCOUNTS 1. NIPA - the set of National Income and Product Accounts produced by the Bureau of Economic Analysis of the Department of Commerce, and published on their website (bea.doc.gov) 2. National income - the sum of all incomes earned from current production of goods and services, including wages, profits, rents, and interest payments. Does not include transfer payments such as Social Security or unemployment. 3. Personal income - that part of national income received by persons. This measure excludes the retained earnings of corporations. 4. Disposable personal income - After-tax personal income. 5. Circular flow model - a model of the economy which stresses the flow of goods from firms to households, and the flow of productive services from households to firms. Payment for those goods and services flows in the opposite direction. The simplest version of the model incorporates only goods markets and factor markets. Households make CONSUMPTION EXPENDITURES on the goods they purchase from firms, firms make FACTOR PAYMENTS for the productive services they receive from households. Since factor payments are another term for income, and since consumption expenditures are the firms' only source of revenue, the model shows that EXPENDITURE = INCOME. More elaborate versions of the model include financial markets, government and international markets. 6. Product accounts. Since expenditure on products is equal to income, keeping track of what is produced and sold should give the same result as adding up incomes. All product accounts try to give a picture of the production of final goods and services produced during the current year.
    [Show full text]
  • The Environment As a Factor of Production
    The Environment as a Factor of Production Timothy J. Considine and Donald F. Larson Abstract This paper develops a model of environmental resource use in production with an empirical analysis of how electric power companies consume and bank sulfur dioxide pollution permits. The model considers emissions, fuels, and labor as variable inputs with quasi-fixed inputs of permits and capital. Incorporating information from permit markets allows us to distinguish between user costs and asset shadow values. Our findings indicate that firms are holding stocks of pollution permits for reasons other than short-term cost savings. The results also reveal substantial substitution possibilities between emissions, permits stocks, and other factors of production. We speculate that anticipated secondary markets for carbon-offset inventories related to the flexibility mechanisms of the Kyoto Protocol will have similar effects for greenhouse-gas emitting firms. World Bank Policy Research Working Paper 3271, April 2004 The Policy Research Working Paper Series disseminates the findings of work in progress to encourage the exchange of ideas about development issues. An objective of the series is to get the findings out quickly, even if the presentations are less than fully polished. The papers carry the names of the authors and should be cited accordingly. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this paper are entirely those of the authors. They do not necessarily represent the view of the World Bank, its Executive Directors, or the countries they represent. Policy Research Working Papers are available online at http://econ.worldbank.org. Timothy J. Considine is a Professor of Natural Resource Economics at Pennsylvania State University; Donald F.
    [Show full text]
  • Spirit of Capitalism”
    A System Dynamics Examination of the “Spirit of Capitalism” John Voyer, Ph.D. Professor of Business Administration [email protected] 207-780-4597 Herbert Smoluk, Ph.D. Professor of Finance [email protected] School of Business University of Southern Maine 96 Falmouth St. Portland, ME 04104 1 Abstract Starting in the mid 1990s, scholars in finance and economics have created a body of literature in a sub-field called the “Spirit of Capitalism.” Using sophisticated econometric models, authors in this sub-field demonstrated that this search for status seemed to drive stock-market volatility and economic growth and tended to make investors more risk averse. However, much of this work suffers from at least one serious flaw—it lacks operational thinking. The purpose of this paper is to begin an attempt at identifying the operational underpinnings, and the resulting underlying dynamics, of this “spirit of capitalism.” The paper offers two causal loop dynamic hypotheses and the beginnings of a stock-and-flow system dynamics model. It concludes with some thoughts about issues raised by the current paper, and with how the authors will address these issues and develop these ideas in future work. 2 A System Dynamics Examination of the “Spirit of Capitalism” Starting in the mid 1990s, scholars in finance and economics have created a body of literature in a sub-field called the “Spirit of Capitalism.” The sub-field’s name comes from the title of Max Weber’s book The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism (1904). The seminal sociologist argued there that the Calvinist Protestant tradition in northern Europe encouraged capitalist enterprise.
    [Show full text]
  • A Stock and Flow Based Framework for Indicator Identification for Evaluation of Crop Production System
    A Stock and Flow Based Framework for Indicator Identification for Evaluation of Crop Production System Siva Muthuprakash K. M. and Om P. Damani Centre for Technology Alternatives for Rural Areas (CTARA), Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Powai, Mumbai 400076 India. [email protected] and [email protected] Abstract Crop production and crop yield has been the sole focus of most of the existing agricultural policies and interventions, which has resulted in several undesirable outcomes over a long term. To evaluate any production system holistically, it is necessary to identify a set of indicators accounting for economic, social and environmental dimensions. While the existing indicator selection frameworks help in identification of indicators, they lack a logically structured and transparent process. In this work, we develop a stock and flow based framework for a systematic selection of indicators for evaluating crop production systems. Stock and flow diagrams are used for conceptualization of the system and are sorted with respect to material, energy, and financial flows associated with the system. Various causal flows and their linkages are traced for each of the input-output component, and one representative indicator is selected for each causal flow. The indicators associated with desirable outcomes are taken in terms of input-output efficiency while undesirable outcomes are considered in terms of their absolute values. Using this process, a set of thirteen indicators have been identified for assessing the viability of agricultural practices with respect to socio- economic and ecological sustainability. Keywords: Systems Thinking, Stock and Flow Diagram, Indicators, Framework, Agricultural Policies Word count: 4644 words (Excluding reference section) 1.
    [Show full text]
  • Natural Resource Accounting in Theory and Practice
    NATURAL RESOURCE ACCOUNTING IN THEORY AND PRACTICE: A CRITICAL ASSESSMENT* Michael Harris and Iain Fraser Department of Economics and Finance La Trobe University Melbourne Victoria, 3086 November 2001 Abstract In this paper an extensive review of the theoretical and applied literature on NRA is provided. The review begins by explaining the economic theory that underpins NRA, contrasting welfare and sustainability as policy goals, and presenting various distinct conceptions of national income. The state of play regarding official revisions to the system of national accounts (SNA) with respect to natural resources and the environment is presented and controversial areas are highlighted. Finally, the economic literature on proposed revisions, and applied studies that have proceeded using these methods, is summarised and critiqued. We argue that much of the literature proceeds with weak conceptual foundations, and that typical case studies produce results that are ambiguous in interpretation. Moreover, we highlight fundamental tensions between economic theory and national accounting methodology, and conclude that one outcome of this has been insufficient attention paid by economists to the revisions to the SNA, instead devoting time and effort to “freelance” NRA case studies utilising sometimes ad hoc methods from the economic literature. Key Words: Natural Resource Accounting, National Income, Resource Management, Welfare, Sustainability * The authors wish to thank Harry Clarke, Geoff Edwards, John Mullen and three very conscientious referees for extensive comments on a disorganised early draft. The quality of the final result owes much to them. As usual, all deficiencies remain the property of the authors. 1. Introduction “There is a dangerous asymmetry in the way we measure...the value of natural resources..
    [Show full text]
  • Keynesian Theorising During Hard Times: Stock-Flow Consistent Models
    Cambridge Journal of Economics 2006, 30, 541–565 doi:10.1093/cje/bei069 Advance Access publication 14 November, 2005 Keynesian theorising during hard times: stock-flow consistent models as an Downloaded from unexplored ‘frontier’ of Keynesian macroeconomics Claudio H. Dos Santos* http://cje.oxfordjournals.org This paper argues that the stock-flow consistent approach to macroeconomic modelling (SFCA) is a natural outcome of the path taken by Keynesian macro- economic thought in the 1960s and 1970s, a theoretical ‘frontier’ that remained largely unexplored with the end of Keynesian academic hegemony. It does so in two steps. First, it phrases the representative views of Davidson, Godley, Minsky and Tobin as different ‘closures’ of the same (SFC) accounting framework, calling attention to their similarities and logical implications. Second, it discusses un- resolved issues within this approach and how it differs from ‘modern’ theorising. Key words: Post-Keynesian models, Stock-flow Consistency, Pitfalls approach at Universidade de Bras?lia on April 15, 2010 JEL classifications: E12, B22, B31 1. Introduction Although the 1970s marked the end of its hegemony in macroeconomics, Keynesian thought showed vitality in that period. The 1981 Nobel Prize lecture by James Tobin is perhaps the most well-known and clear version of the (‘Old’ Neoclassical) Keynesian ‘frontier’ at the time.1 According to Tobin (1982, p. 172): Hicks’s ‘IS-LM’ version of Keynesian [theory] ... has a number of defects that have limited its usefulness and subjected it to attack. In this lecture, I wish to describe an alternative framework, which tries to repair some of those defects .... The principal features that differentiate the proposed framework from the standard macromodel are these: (i) precison regarding time ...; (ii) tracking of stocks ..
    [Show full text]
  • Stock-Flow Consistent Macroeconomic Models: Theory, Practice and Applications
    Stock-Flow Consistent Macroeconomic Models: Theory, Practice and Applications Francesco Zezza Ph.D Candidate - Economics Universities of Siena, Pisa and Firenze, Italy September 2018 To my Father, my Mentor, Guide and Inspiration Acknowledgments I am greatly indebted to my Supervisors, Ernesto Screpanti and Alessandro Vercelli, for the constant help received throughout this Journey. I also need to thank Ugo Pagano, Michelangelo Vasta and all the PhD board and Faculty staff for giving me this opportunity. I need also to thank Marc Lavoie for the continuous inspiration and advises and Michalis Nikiforos for making me feel part of the Team during my stay at the Levy Institute. I am also indebted to Dany Lang and Jan Kregel, who helped me through my months as a Visiting Researcher at the CEPN and the Levy Institute. A special mention goes to Antoine Godin, whose continuous support and comments helped me to improve much the quality of this work. Moreover, a thank goes to Eckard Hein, Eugenio Caverzasi, Anwar Shaikh, Ric- cardo de Bonis, Roberto Golinelli, Marco Veronese Passarella (among many others) and to all the participants of Workshops and International Conferences where I presented previous versions of this work, your precious comments and suggestions helped me a lot. A special thought goes to Amedeo di Maio, Al- berto Bagnai, Engelbert Stockhammer and Sergio Cesaratto which, at different times during my studies, had a huge role in shaping my ideas and perspec- tives. Finally, I also need to thank Claudia Cicconi, Alessandra Agostinelli and Stefania Cuicchio from ISTAT and Angela Gattulli from Bank of Italy for the technical support regarding the data and the useful comments and clarifications.
    [Show full text]
  • Flow and Stock Effects of Large-Scale Treasury Purchases
    FLOW AND STOCK EFFECTS OF LARGE-SCALE TREASURY PURCHASES Stefania D’Amico Thomas B. King Division of Monetary Affairs Federal Reserve Board Washington, DC 20551 April 2011 ABSTRACT Using a panel of daily CUSIP-level data, we study the effects of the Federal Reserve’s program to purchase $300 billion of U.S. Treasury coupon securities announced and implemented during 2009. This program represented an unprecedented intervention in the Treasury market and thus allows us to shed light on the price elasticities of Treasuries, theories of imperfect substitutability in the term structure, and the ability of large-scale asset purchases to reduce overall yields and improve market functioning. We find that the program resulted in a persistent downward shift in the yield curve (its “stock effect”), amounting to 20 to 30 basis points in intermediate-maturity zero-coupon yields. In addition, except at very long maturities, purchase operations caused an average decline in yields in the sector purchased of 3.5 basis points on the days when they occurred (the “flow effect”). The coefficient patterns generally support a view of segmentation or imperfect substitution within the Treasury market during this time. Contact: stefania.d’[email protected]; [email protected]. For helpful discussions and comments we thank other members of the Staff at the Federal Reserve Board and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, as well as Greg Duffee, James Hamilton, Monika Piazzesi, Tsutomu Watanabe, Min Wei, Jonathan Wright, Dave Zervos, and seminar participants at the Bank of England, the Banco de España, Cal State Fullerton, the Federal Reserve System Real-Time Policy Conference, and the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco conference on Monetary Policy at the Zero Lower Bound.
    [Show full text]
  • From Monocapitalism to Multicapitalism: 21St Century System Value Creation
    r3.0 White Paper No. 1 From Monocapitalism to Multicapitalism: 21st Century System Value Creation December 2020 Author: Bill Baue, r3.0 This document is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. You are free to share (copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format) or adapt (remix, transform, and build upon) the material with appropriate attribution. You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests that the author or r3.0 endorse you or your use of our work product. Baue, B. (2020): From Monocapitalism to Multicapitalism: 21st Century System Value Creation. r3.0 © r3.0 This White Paper was designed www.r3-0.org by our partner agency [email protected] www.heureka.de CONTENT INDEX 0. Forewords .................................................................................5 0.1. Charles Tilley | CEO | International Integrated Reporting Council. .5 0.2. Richard Howitt | Former CEO | International Integrated Reporting Council. 6 0.3. Delphine Gibassier | Director | Multi-Capital Integrated Performance Research Centre | Audencia Business School. .8 0.4. Author’s Foreword. .9 1. Executive Summary. .11 2. Introduction ..............................................................................13 2.1. Shortcomings of Monocapitalism. 18 2.1.1. Capital: Singular or Plural? . 18 2.1.2. Economic Growth Theory: Discounting Future Generations . 22 2.1.3. The Age of (Irrational) Exuberance. 25 2.2. The Case for Multicapitalism. 27 2.3. Ethical Imperative Meets Business Case. 32 2.4. The Ultimate End: System Value Creation. 33 3. Foundations of the Multicapitalism Concept.
    [Show full text]
  • Method to Simultaneously Determine Stock, Flow, and Parameter Values In
    Method to simultaneously determine stock, flow, and parameter values in large stock flow consistent models A. Godin G. Tiou Tagba Aliti University of Pavia University of Limerick S. Kinsella∗ University of Limerick Abstract Stock flow consistent macroeconomic models suffer from the lack of a co- herent estimation method due to the complicated nature of themodeling process. This paper provides a candidate estimation method that deter- mines the values of each stock and flow simultaneously by analytically solving any stock flow model, and converting the estimation into a global minimisation problem in p − k dimensions. We describe the method and apply it to a canonical model using real-world data. The method esti- mates the parameters and flows reliably. Keywords:Instability,finance,estimation,stockflowconsistentmodels. JEL Codes:E32;E37;E51;G33. 1Motivation The core of macroeconomics is the empirical and statistical description of the be- havior of aggregations of economic actors. Stock flow consistent macroeconomic modeling emphasizes the connections between classes (or sectors) of economic agents. Until now, as far as we are aware, no explicit method has been given for the solution and estimation of stock flow models. Our goal in this paper is to provide such a method. In stock flow consistent models the economy is treated as a set of sectors interacting with one another, for example: households, firms, private banks, the central bank, and the rest of the world. In each sector, say, households, ∗Corresponding author. Email: [email protected] grant from the Institute for New Economic Thinking. We thank Marco Missaglia, Matthew Greenwood-Nimmo, Duncan Foley, Vela Velupillai, and Rudi von Arnim for helpful conversa- tions and comments.
    [Show full text]